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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26698201">To Become A Hero</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterune/pseuds/winterune'>winterune</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Price of Freedom: Zack Week 2020 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Childhood, Dreams, Gen, Hope, Pre-Canon, Zack Fair Week 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:21:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,674</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26698201</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterune/pseuds/winterune</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>[Zack Fair Week 2020]<br/>It is the summer of 1997. Twelve-year-old Zack dreams of becoming a SOLDIER.<br/><br/>This is a look into Zack's childhood and why he wants to become a hero.<br/></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Price of Freedom: Zack Week 2020 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937266</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Become A Hero</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My entry for Zack Fair Week 2020 Day 5: Honor/Dream/Buster Sword</p><p>Unbeta'd and only slightly edited.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was one of those days when the sun burned bright over the barren wasteland and the day was too hot, too humid to stay cooped up in a small stone house, where his mother was making some soup or stew over a blazing fire in the stove. Zack lay on his back beneath the shade of a tree on the cliff, sweat covering his brow and neck and his shirt was already soaked. His jet-black hair plastered to his skin, he fanned himself with one of the bigger, sturdier leaves, but that didn’t do much good when even the air was hot. Summer in Gongaga was a hell of its own.</p><p>“<em>And now, for our coverage on Wutai…</em>”</p><p>The static voice came from the small radio he’d swiped from the house. No one used it anyway. His father was out working in the day and his mother was always busy, either cooking or up to other stuffs with the village ladies. He had no friends his age. Most kids were either older and leaving to find jobs outside Gongaga, or much younger that he couldn’t ask them to play his games with him. Not that he’d say no if they asked him to play. He was their big brother after all. But, sometimes, being on the cliff’s edge like this with the village’s blue circular rooftops dotting the jungle far below and the gray outline of the Mako Reactor visible in the distance, the vast cloudless blue sky stretching as far as the eye could see, all Zack wanted was to fly.</p><p>More statics. One reason why Zack spent a lot of time at the cliff was because the higher ground usually had good reception for the radio. “Usually” being the keyword. Zack hit the top surface with his fist. The static cleared up and a voice came out.</p><p>“…<em>saragi has set up defenses. A fight has broken out. Under Sephiroth’s leadersh…SOLDIE…nd infantrym…eak past…………………</em>”</p><p>Zack hit the radio several more times. He should try going to the Reactor one of these days. It had to have better reception, right? How else could Shinra monitor it from all the way over in Midgar? They'd told the kids to stay away, but Zack could probably go past security one way or another. He’d done so in the past.</p><p>“You’re going to break it if you keep doing that.”</p><p>The familiar yet unexpected voice jerked him in surprise. Zack glanced up from his position and saw a young man standing at the edges of his vision, upside-down, by the bushes and undergrowth, coming in from the path leading down the hill. Brown leather boots and pants with green checkered shirt beneath a brown vest, the man wore an amicable grin as he said, “Knew I’d find you here.”</p><p>Zack’s mouth broke into a grin of his own. “Rei!”</p><p>Rei was a friend and a neighbor. Older by a few years, he had left to join a traveling merchant group that used to frequent Gongaga a lot a few years back. They hadn’t been back here for a while.</p><p>“What’s going on?” Zack said, sitting up. “I didn’t know you were coming.” Rei chuckled. Summer breeze parted his dark hair, his skin a darker shade of the brown Zack had been familiar with. Zack patted the spot next to him. “Where did you go? Any new, exciting places? What about Midgar? Is it as big as they say? Tell me of all the places you’ve been to.” Zack had talked so fast he was running out of breath by the time Rei reached him, taking his seat next to him.</p><p>“Slow down, kiddo,” his friend said with a laugh.</p><p>“For <em>your</em> information, I’ll be thirteen in a few months. I’m not a kid anymore.” He had an air of bravado, as though being thirteen was everything a kid could ever dream of. Though, well, in actuality, it was. Being thirteen meant he would be old enough to make his own decisions, to look for a job, and no one would be able to stop him if he wanted to try his chances outside this backwater village.</p><p>The corners of Rei’s lips quirked up. He ruffled Zack’s hair. “You’re still going to be my little brother no matter how old you get,” he said. Zack brushed his hand away with a scowl. Rei grinned. He stretched his legs in front of him and leaned back against his arms under the tree shade. “Midgar, huh…” His dark gray eyes took on a faraway look as he stared across the clear blue sky. “It’s big, all right.”</p><p>“And?” Zack prompted when Rei didn’t continue.</p><p>“I never really stayed there long,” Rei went on. “The group’s always moving about. But…yeah, it’s kinda cool, I guess. Cool as in a lot cooler in the summer unlike Gongaga, and maybe cool with all the plates and all, too. We spent more time in the slums than the uppercity. Not many people would look at our wares there. They’re 'too elite', if that makes sense. Though, compared to their stores and whatnot, I can’t really blame them. To be honest, I like the slums more. More personality. People are nicer too—most of them. You’d still find thugs, but thugs are everywhere. The only downside I can think of is that you can’t see the sky.”</p><p>Zack narrowed his eyes in confusion. “How can you <em>not</em> see the sky?”</p><p>“You <em>can</em>, just a sliver bit.” His hand went to draw imaginary plates and walls to indicate where the sky in Midgar was. “The upper plate covered most of the sky. One might even call it a <em>steel</em> sky. But it’s nice when night comes and these lights flickered to life like stars. The central Corkscrew Tunnel is also lit up so bright you can't ever lose your way.”</p><p>“Corkscrew Tunnel?”</p><p>“This tunnel that goes around the central structure that supports the center of the city. It’s where trains go, connecting the upper plate and the slums below.”</p><p>Zack couldn’t imagine it. He couldn’t imagine the scale in which Rei described it. All his world had only consisted of the jungle, the cliff, and the village. Sometimes, people from Midgar would come to inspect the Reactor, but they only spoke to the adults and they’d leave before dusk even came. Other times, Zack would find spots in the cliffs and hills surrounding the village where he could see the vast expanse of greenery beyond the jungle and the sliver stretch of blue where ocean met the sky. The world was so big, yet he was stuck in this small village no one had probably heard about.</p><p>“You still thinking of getting into SOLDIER?” Rei asked with a glance from the corner of his eye.</p><p>“Of course!” Zack leaped to his feet and puffed out his chest, beat his torso with a clenched hand like a proud soldier having won a war. “I’m gonna be a hero, the best SOLDIER there ever was.”</p><p>“You’re gonna have to take on Sephiroth if you want to be the best.”</p><p>“You bet I would.” He’d said it with great zeal and determination. In his mind, he could imagine himself battling the white-haired warrior with his long-bladed sword, a steel blade in Zack’s hand as he rushed in and strike.</p><p>Rei’s snort brought him back to the present and when Zack looked, his older-brother figure was doubling over with laughter. The corners of Zack’s lips tugged into a sheepish smile. “Not good, huh?” he said.</p><p>“You’re never going to defeat Sephiroth,” Rei said in-between chuckles. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t be a hero, or a great SOLDIER.” He grinned, and after a while, Zack grinned back.</p><p>They went on to talk about everything, catching up on the last three years Rei had been away. Nothing much had changed. Gongaga was still a backwater village with not much else outside the jungle and the Mako Reactor within. Some of the adults still worked at the Reactor. Others looked for jobs as merchants or fishermen or hunters and foragers.</p><p>“Why not stay?” Rei asked one time, arms loosely hugging his knees to his chest. “Work at the Reactor like your father.”</p><p>Zack gave him a side-eye. “Why didn’t <em>you</em> stay?”</p><p>Rei stared, then nodded, saying, “Good point.”</p><p>Any normal person living in the middle of nowhere would dream of going out and having a job somewhere. Some place that actually had life—and Midgar was the best bet. A modern, bustling, metropolitan city—one could say it was the center of the world, with vast technological advances, lots of high-rises and skyscrapers, and, most importantly, job offers. SOLDIER was only one of them.</p><p>Zack had heard how difficult it was to enter the company. From the tough screening program to other exams no one was privy of. Only a handful of candidates graduated every year. But Zack would do it. Once he turned thirteen in September, he’d embark on this new quest. He’d go to Midgar, take the SOLDIER test, and he’d come out the winner. It would be the start of his new life. His new self. And maybe—just maybe—if he managed to gain fame and become a hero…</p><p>Maybe they’d do something about this place. And for once, his parents wouldn’t have to break their backs every day to earn a living.</p><p>“Have you told your parents?” Rei asked.</p><p>Zack went quiet. He hadn’t. They probably wouldn’t let him.</p><p>Rei drew a quiet breath as he smiled a soft, understanding smile. He gazed back down at the village, where people could be seen mingling around in-between houses. The soft sound of a babbling brook filled the space. From somewhere far away, a waterfall cascaded over rocks and boulders down the side of a cliff.</p><p>Rei ruffled his hair, and this time, Zack let him. “Make sure you tell them, all right?” he said.</p><p>Zack pressed his lips into a thin line. “Okay.”</p><p>
  <strong>~ END ~</strong>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it ^^ Feel free to leave kudos/comments if you find the fic to your liking :) Thanks!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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